Many Events Planned for Anniversary CelebrationOct 24th, 2008 at 11:54 AM by Togikagi

Pirates of the Caribbean Online is celebrating its one-year anniversary on Oct. 31, and the developers have a ton of announcements and surprises in store for players.

Lead developer Greg Wiatroski posted a diary entry on what's in store in the next year for the game. He said that ships customization will increase, a more traditional inventory system, such as banks and slots, may be implemented, and more features will be added for both basic and unlimited members.

Also, according to a press release by Disney Online, "Pirates of the Caribbean Online partnered with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to bring a little Pirates magic into the life of Job McCully, a 10-year-old boy in Arkansas who is a leukemia survivor and has endured a bone marrow and double lung transplant." The episode will air this Sunday at 8 p.m. PST on ABC.

Keep reading for more anniversary information.

The game's one-year birthday falls on Halloween, which also happens to be a full moon in the Pirates universe.

Did you happen to notice that our one year anniversary falls on October 31 - or that in the Caribbean, October 31 also happens to be the night of a full moon? Indeed, it's a spooky coincidence.

In fact, All Hallows' Eve is measuring up to be a very strange time in the islands with tales of curses and all. To find out more about this curse, we met Host GM Captain Walter, who along with his crew, the Marceline Guild, have been warning Pirates of the ill winds coming toward the islands.... Click here to read more.

Also, major changes to the game's Web site are in store. Here's some more information, as well as some interesting gameplay statistics, taken from the current news page :

Can you believe it? It's been a whole year since the Pirates Online crew set off for adventure, and since then millions of you have joined us online -- plundering, pillaging, and pirating!

It's been a great first year - a year that saw the introduction of awesome new features like Privateering, high-level ghost ships, powerful new weapons, creepy new enemies, informative Game Masters, Web site polls, blogs, and much, much more - and we can't wait to show you what's in store for year two!

In the months ahead, you'll see major changes to our Web site, plus new game features that will make the Pirates Online experience more exciting than ever before!

We're celebrating our one-year anniversary with a spectacular contest and Jolly Roger has his own plans for the anniversary! Either way, we know Year Two is going to be even more thrilling!

Thanks to all our players for such a great year, and for helping to make Pirates Online such a great game! Aye, here's to many, many more.

Check out these amazing stats from our first year:

- 104,086,410 enemy ships have been sunk - fine cannon work, mates.

- Players have logged over 5,445 cumulative years of gameplay since we first set sail.

- 467,870,400 gold has been spent on & wait for it & CLOTHING! No wonder you're the best-dressed Pirates in the world!

- 216,631,461 of Jolly Roger's Skeleton Army defeated! Thanks for doing your part and helping rid the Caribbean of this dreadful scourge.

Lastly, the development team has picked the five winners of the "Talk Like A Pirate" contest. The winners get their phrase put into the game as SpeedChat and will receive an official, limited edition Pirates of the Caribbean Online T-shirt with the Top Five Talk Like A Pirate sayings printed on it. Here's the five phrases:

Captain Redwood - You need a sharp sword and sharper wits.Galen Quicksteel - Ye be one doubloon short of a full hull mate!Angel Firehawk - Watch yer tongue or I'll pickle it with sea-salt!Gunns - May a stiff wind be at our backs, the sun on our faces and our cannons fire true!Isis - Salty as a Kraken's kiss.